Media releases

What is a good life in the Alps? How can tourism be reshaped? CIPRA International has dedicated its 2018 Annual Report to both local residents and visitors to the Alps and, under the motto “Visitors and residents”, has illustrated how tourism and quality of life can be compatible.

More youth participation in the Alps! This appeal went to the politicians of the Alpine countries at the conference on the GaYA project in Chambéry/F. The extent to which the topic moves was shown by the participation of numerous young people and representatives from politics and society throughout the Alps.

While one group has highlighted ecosystem performances, another has tested participatory approaches to river management: a total of 19 partners from six Alpine countries have for three years now been co-operating on two projects. They presented their findings on 21 and 22 November 2018 in Innsbruck, Austria.

Whether mountain forests that protect us from avalanches and clean our air, or rivers and alpine pastures that provide us drinking water, energy or nourishment: in the AlpES Project ten partner organisations from six alpine countries have evaluated and documented ecosystem services for the past three years. They will present their results on 21st and 22nd November 2018 at a Final Event in Innsbruck/A. Press representatives are kindly invited to attend.

Once politicians agree on the importance of young people for the future of the Alps and the need for their inclusion in decision-making processes, the question arises: How? How do we engage them in a productive and effective way? To answer these questions, GaYA's Youth Participation Toolbox was created by eight partners from five Alpine countries.

In recent years there have been several attempts by regions to reintroduce the Alemagna motorway from Venice to Munich onto the European agenda. At the suggestion of CIPRA, on 13 and 14 June the Permanent Committee of the Alpine Convention unanimously expressed its opposition to this new Alpine motorway.

Kaspar Schuler is taking over the leadership of CIPRA International in Schaan, Liechtenstein. A native of Switzerland, he brings with him many years of experience and numerous skills in the environmental field, most recently as interim director of Greenpeace Switzerland.

CIPRA International presented the idea of a Climate Partnership of Alpine Communities at the opening day of the 2017 World Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany. In partnership with the “Alliance in the Alps” and “Alpine Town of the Year” networks, as well as the support of the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, CIPRA International wants to actively strengthen the role of towns and cities in the Alpine region in increasing climate protection in the coming years.

Starting 3rd of June 2017, a group of Alpine experts were hiking through Austria, Switzerland, France and Italy from Vienna to Nice in the course of the project “whatsalp”. They documented the current state of the Alps and exchanged experiences with different people on-site and on the way. Another objective was to draw a comparison with the results of the "TransALPedes”crossing of the Alps in 1992 and to take a look into the future. The main partners of the project were the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA) and the Swiss Alpine Initiative, in addition to numerous other partners such as the Alpine Convention, for instance. On the 29th of September 2017, the whatsalp group arrived in Nice and reported on the results.